Gun.



No. 880,555. PATENTED MAR. 3, 1908. W. P. MARKHAM & E. S. ROE.

, GUN.

APPLICATION Hum APR. '16, 1907.

INVENTORJ 1 W1 LL. lAMJ/ZARKHAM. W G J EJ-IENESZHSKROE.

\ 1 luflull UNITED sa'rs PATENT oFFrcE.

WILLIAM F. MARKHAM AND ERNEST s. Ron; or PLYMOUTH, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNORSTO MARKHALL ATR RIFLE COMPANY, OF PLYMOUTH, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATIONMICHIGAN.

GUN.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM F. MARK- HAM and ERNEST S. Ron, citizens ofthe United States of America, residing at Plym outh, in the county ofWayne and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Guns, of which the following is a specification,reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

The invention relates to improvements in guns, and more particularly tospring-actuated air guns of that type in which the spring is placedunder compression by the operation ofa lever.

It is the object of theinvention to obtain a simple construction ofactuating mechanism, and one which may be easily operated.

In the construction of spring-actuated air guns, it is usual to placethe. spring in a barrel or housing, one end abutting against the aircompression cylinder, and the other against a fixed abutment. The springis placed under tension by drawing the compression plunger rearward,this being accomplished by various forms of operating mechanism. Oneform of mechanisnnwhich has heretofore been used, is a lever pivoted inthe frame of the gun, and having one end thereof in engagement with abearing on a' rear'wardlyextending shank of the compression plunger.

The opposite end of the leverextends normally adjacent to the stock ofthe gun, and

in operation the movement of this end of the lever forward willcause'the other end to thereby compressing the spring. There is,

however, a serious objection to such a form of operating mechanism, viz,that as the lever swings in the arc of the circle, it exerts a lateral,as well as a longitudinal stress upon the plunger shank, whichintroduces a large element of friction and increases the work to beperformed. The greater the angle through which the lever swings, themore will be the frictional loss, and as the longitudinal movement ofthe plunger is considerable, and the space in which the lever may bearranged is limited, it is impossible to avoid a considerable angularmovement.

With the present invention the difficulties, as above stated, areavoided by pro iding a lever having a plurality of points in engage--ment with the shank of the plunger. The

' Patented March s, 1903.

chiefly in the line of movement of the lunger, while the lateralmovement of each ear ing, incident to the angular movement of the lever,occurs while out of engagement. Thus,. j.the element of friction isgreatly reduced without decreasing either the length of the movement ofthe plunger or the angular movement of the lever.

In the drawings, Figure l is a longitudinal section through a spring airgun provided with my improved construction; Fig. 2 is a similar view,illustrating the operation. Fig. 3 is an elevation of the shank.

A is the barrel or casing, B-the plunger, and C the spring, which at oneend bears against the plunger, and at its opposite end against anabutment D.

E is a shank extending rearward from the plunger, around which thespring C is sleeved;

cooperating bearings J and K are formed by; .pins extending across theslot.

The lug or finger H is so arranged that during the initial movement. ofthe lever it will bear against the pin J, and will draw the shankrearward for a portion of its travel. The lug or finger 1 extends at adifierent angle, and, in the first place, is out of engagement with itscooperating pin K. As'soon, however, as the lever has traveled a portionof its movement, the finger I will be brought into contact with the pinK,,while the fin er 1-1 will ass out of engagementv with the .ug J. T efurther movement of the lever Will then complete the rearward movementof the plunger until engaged with the trigger detent (not shown); Thelever may then be returned to its initial position, the plungerremaining retracted and the spring under compression until the gun isfilled. I

The shank E is referably formed, as illustrated in Fig. 3, ya strip ofsheet metal,

which is bent to form the parallel side members a 6, between which andthe 4 slot are rovided with two spaces into which the fingers- II and Iproject. The pins J and 1x extend between these side members, and theforward ends of thesides are riveted or otherwise attached to 5 theplunger B.

V What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a gun, the combination with the spring, the plunger and a shankinwardlyextending therefrom, of a rockable spring compressing member,and a plurality of cooperating bearings on the front end of saidroekable member and shank arranged for successive engagement.

2. In a gun, the combination with the spring, a plunger and a shankinwardly-extending therefrom, of a roc-kable spring compressing member,a plurality of bearings on the rear end of said shank and cooperatinglingers on said rockable member extending at different angles andarranged for successive engagement with their respective bearings.

3. In a gun, a plunger, retracting mechanism comprising a pivotal leverhaving furcations at one end thereof, and an inwardlyextending plungershank h aving a plurality of separated side members, a pivotal leverhaving'fureations extending between said side bers arranged forengagement with said Y- shaped member.

s 6. In a gun, I spring and a plunger, of a shank formed of a pair, ofseparated side members, a pivotal lever having a Y-shaped portion at oneend thereof, and a )lurality of pins extending between said sid gagementwith said Y -shaped' member.

7. In a gun, the combination with the spring and a plun er, of a shank,a pivotal lever having a Y-shaped member at one end thereof and bearingson said shank arranged for engagement with said Y-sha ed member.

In testimony whereof we a X our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM F. MARKHAM. ERNEST S. ROE.

Witnesses:

B. B. SHORTMAN, E. T. LOMBARD.

the combination with the e members arranged for'en-

